`You can get anything from gasoline to ether,`` said Battalion Chief Jim Sheehan of the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department`s hazardous materials bureau. ``It`s amazing what people have in their house. It sits around for years and years.``

This is the first time since spring 1989 that Broward residents will be able to get rid of household hazardous waste for free, Gomez said. The state used to pick up the waste but now leaves the job to the counties, he said.

``Six months ago there was no answer in Broward County for where to take this stuff,`` Sheehan said. So many people dumped it illegally, he said.

About 30 people like DelDuca call the county every week looking for a way to get rid of household hazardous waste, Gomez said.

David Todd of Lighthouse Point called off and on for nearly a year trying to find out how to dispose of ``old paint products, some thinners and some pesticides.``

He decided to wait until the county was ready to take his hazardous wastes.

``I`ve got to drink the water the stuff seeps into,`` Todd said.

The waste taken to Lockhart Stadium will be shipped out of state and disposed of properly as part of a $150,000 program, Gomez said.

In October, Broward residents will have a permanent place to take the hazardous waste, Gomez said.

The county is building a hazardous-waste transfer station at 2780 N. Powerline Road in Pompano Beach. It will accept waste -- free -- one Saturday a month, he said.

HAZARDOUS WASTE

-- WHAT QUALIFIES: Paint, solvents, gasoline, used oil, car and flashlight batteries, pesticides, insecticides -- anything you are not supposed to throw into the sewers or on the ground.

-- WHERE TO DUMP: A temporary disposal site has been set up at the southeast parking lot of Lockhart Stadium, just north of Commercial Boulevard and west of Powerline Road. In October, a permanent disposal site will open at 2780 N. Powerline Road, Pompano Beach.

-- WHEN TO DUMP: At Lockhart Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 17, and Sunday, Aug. 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Starting in October, waste can be disposed of at the permanent Pompano Beach site on one Saturday a month.

-- COST: Free. You must bring proof of Broward County residency.

-- FOR INFORMATION: Call Broward County Office of Integrated Waste Management at 978-1150 or 761-7220 for Hollywood residents.